Association of British Scrabble Players

Study > Pitfalls and Pratfalls


This is a collection of words with a tricky twist that might lure you into making a costly mistake. Of course, any true Scrabble player has a practically unbounded talent for confusing words, misremembering words, half-remembering words, remembering words from languages other than the one being played in or even inventing completely new words not known in any language, and a selection like this can barely scratch the surface of what is possible. Note also that I have excluded the large class of 'plurals or apparent plurals with no singular' which I have already covered, see 'Plurals with no singular'.

I have included on the left-hand side a small number of especially plausible phoneys, though naturally these need to be handled with the equivalent of asbestos gloves. They are shown starred and in red.

Further contributions welcome!

Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


abluted washed clean. No verb ABLUTE*.
aby abye the past is ABOUGHT not ABYED*.
acquite to acquit: ACQUITES, ACQUITING, ACQUIT. No ACQUITED*.
addorsed turned back to back. No verb ADDORSE*.
affix past is only AFFIXED, not AFFIXT*, although both FIXED and FIXT are good.
afflated inspired. No AFFLATE*.
agalwood no AGAL*.
airmile* phoney. Try RAMILIE.
aleying the verb is ALEYE, not aley*
aread or AREDE or ARREEDE but not AREED*. And the past of AREDE is ARED or AREDD, not AREDED*.
artal this is a pl. of ROTL (can also be ROTLS), a unit of weight. No ARTALS*.
atlantic* phoney. Try TANTALIC. PACIFIC, of course, is OK.
aurar this is the pl. of EYRIR, an Icelandic unit of currency: no -S.
awful not AWEFUL*. Try WAEFUL. But both AWSOME and AWESOME are OK.
axe gives AXING not AXEING*.
banty this is a noun: there is no BANTIER* (try ATEBRIN) or BANTIEST* (try TABINETS).
basho a sumo wrestling tournament. No -S.
basifixed attached by the base. No verb BASIFIX*.
batwing an adjective, as in 'batwing sleeve'. No -S.
bealing This is a noun meaning 'an infected sore'. There is also a noun BEAL meaning the same. But there is no verb BEAL so no BEALED*.
begored covered with gore. No verb BEGORE*.
beinked covered with ink. No verb BEINK*.
bemazed stupefied. No verb BEMAZE*.
bemedal past is BEMEDALED or BEMEDALLED but participle is only BEMEDALLING not BEMEDALING*.
bendily* phoney. Try BYLINED.
bepatched covered with patches. No verb BEPATCH*.
beplumed covered with plumes. No verb BEPLUME*.
beribboned covered with ribbons. No verb BERIBBON*.
berobed clad in a robe. No verb BEROBE*.
berouged covered with rouge. No verb BEROUGE*.
besped past of BESPEED. There is no verb BESP*.
betumbled in a tumbled state. No verb BETUMBLE*.
birdie not BIRDY*. And as a verb it gives BIRDIEING not BIRDYING*.
birkie not BIRKY*.
birlieman (Scots) an umpire, an arbiter. No BIRLIE*.
bonkers crazy. There is no BONKER* to mean someone who bonks!
brandise noun only: no BRANDISING* or BRANDISED*.
briefer a noun, 'one who briefs', as well as the comparative of BRIEF, hence BRIEFERS.
briming phosphorescence of the sea. No verb BRIME*.
buirdly (Scots) an adjective meaning 'stalwart'. There is no BUIRD*.
bustier a noun, 'a strapless long-line brassiere', as well as the comparative of BUSTY, so BUSTIERS is OK.
cajun relating to descendants of the French-speaking Acadians deported to Louisiana in 1755. No —S.
calmer comparative of CALM: not 'one who calms', so no CALMERS* (try MARCELS).
camerated chambered, vaulted. No verb CAMERATE*.
cardfile* phoney. Try FILECARD or FRICADEL.
cartop able to fit on top of a car. No -S.
caseful* phoney. Try FECULAS.
catchen (Spenser) to catch. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
cerulean dark blue: this can take an -S but its variant CAERULEAN can't.
chastize* phoney, CHASTISE is one of the few -ISE words now without a corresponding -IZE. Try ZAITECHS.
chylde designates a youth of gentle birth. No CHYLDES*, although the variant CHILDE does give CHILDES.
cissing there is no verb CISS*.
coadapted adapted one to another. No COADAPT*.
cocuswood no COCUS*.
comix this is a plural noun: slang for comics, not a verb so no COMIXES*, COMIXED*, COMIXING*.
confuser* phoney. Try FROUNCES.
cosier cozier these are nouns, 'a cobbler', as well as the comparatives of COSY and COZY, so COSIERS and COZIERS are OK.
cottier a noun, meaning a kind of tenant, not the comparative of an adjective COTTY*.
crosser a noun, 'one who crosses', as well as the comparative of CROSS, hence CROSSERS.
crozzled blackened or burnt at the edges. No verb CROZZLE*.
cupolated furnished with a CUPOLA. No verb CUPOLATE*.
dae (Scots) to do: DAES, DAEING, DONE, DID. No DAED*.
daftie a simpleton. No DAFTY*.
damndest no DAMNDER* (but there is DAMNEDER).
dapper can be a noun as well as adjective, hence DAPPERS.
darndest no DARNDER* (but there is DARNEDER).
deleter* phoney. Try DEERLET.
dicey beware the phoney DICY*. Yet both RICY and RICEY are good.
dodman a snail. Pl. is DODMANS not DODMEN*.
durndest no DURNDER* (but there is DURNEDER).
daresay this verb does not conjugate: no DARESAYS* etc.
dautie not DAUTY*.
dawtie not DAWTY*.
decanal an adjective meaning 'relating to a dean' and not a verb meaning 'to remove canals from', so no DECANALS*. Do not believe everything Barry Grossman tells you during a game. In fact, do not believe anything Barry Grossman tells you during a game…
decoherer a device for bringing a COHERER back to its former condition after it has been affected by an electric wave. No verb DECOHERE*.
delurks* phoney. Try SKUDLER.
deminer One ho removes mines, but there is no verb DEMINE*.
disbodied disembodied. No verb DISBODY*.
disbound not having a binding. No verb DISBIND*.
disgodded deprived of divinity. No verb DISGOD*.
dismoded outmoded. No verb DISMODE*.
disorbed deprived of sovereignty. No verb DISORB*.
disrelated not related. No verb DISRELATE*.
dizain not DIZAINE*, despite SIXAIN or SIXAINE. Try DIAZINE.
doomsaying the act of prophesying doom. There is DOOMSAYER, but no DOOMSAY*.
doily or DOYLY or DOYLEY but not DOILEY*.
dollier a noun, 'one who uses a dolly', not a comparative, so DOLLIERS is OK.
dormie this is an adjective, so no DORMIES*. Try MISDOER or MOIDERS.
draco an adjective, as in draco lizard. No -S.
drapier comparative of DRAPEY, but also a noun, a draper, so takes -S.
duckish not an adjective meaning 'like a duck', but a noun menaing 'dusk', so takes a plural DUCKISHES.
easter unlike NORTHER, SOUTHER and WESTER, which can be verbs, this can only be a noun.
eftest as soon as possible. No EFTER*.
egotiser* phoney. Try ERGOTISE.
ejector no EJECTER.
ekuele a former standard monetary unit of Equatorial Guinea. No -S in plural, but the variant EKPWELE does take an -S.
elhi (US) pertaining to school grades 1 to 12. Adjective only: no ELHIS*.
embace (Spenser) to lower, debase: EMBACES, EMBACING, EMBASTE (not EMBACED*).
emersed standing out from or rising above water. No verb EMERSE*.
emptier this is a noun, 'one who empties', as well as the comparative of EMPTY, so EMPTIERS is OK.
enfested (Spenser) embittered. No verb ENFEST*.
enfestered festered. No verb ENFESTER*.
enridged formed into ridges. No verb ENRIDGE*.
entrall (Spenser) entrail: plural ENTRALLES not ENTRALLS*.
equaler* phoney. Try LEQUEAR.
erecter one who erects. The adjective ERECT does not compare, so no ERECTEST*.
eroders* phoney. Try REREDOS.
exacter a noun, 'one who exacts', as well as the comparative of EXACT, so EXACTERS is OK. There is also EXACTOR.
fallguy* phoney. Try FUGALLY.
fancier a noun, 'one who fancies', as well as the comparative of FANCY, so FANCIERS is OK.
faster yes, this can be 'one who fasts', so FASTERS is OK. But don't try SLOWERS*!
feralised run wild following domestication. No FERALISE*.
feralized run wild following domestication. No FERALIZE*.
fico takes pl. FICOS or FICOES but the variant FIGO takes only FIGOS.
frijol a kidney bean: plural FRIJOLES not FRIJOLS*.
footrail* phoney. Try FAROLITO.
forname* phoney. Try FORAMEN or FOREMAN.
forrad (Scots) forward: FORRADER or FORRARDER, but no FORRADEST*.
foulers* phoney. FOULER is only the comparative of foul, not one who fouls. Try FUROLES or OURSELF.
franker this is a noun, 'one who franks', as well as the comparative of FRANK, so FRANKERS is OK.
fratching quarrelsome. There is a noun FRATCH, but no verb, so no FRATCHED*.
fricking an expletive intensifier. No verb FRICK*.
fumado not FUMATO* (you're thinking of SFUMATO).
furrier this is a noun, 'one who sells furs', as well as the comparative of FURRY, so FURRIERS is OK.
ghillie not GHILLY*. As a verb it gives GHILLYING not GHILLIEING*.
gliffing the time required to give a glance, an instant. There is a noun GLIFF, but no GLIFFED*.
goaders* phoney. Try DOGEARS.
greek something unintelligible: no GREEKS*. But GREEKED and GREEKING are OK (printing terms).
grisled no GRISLE*.
gropings* phoney (what, no GROPINGS in the back of the car?). Try PROGGINS.
guise there is no GUIZE*, despite AGUIZE and GUIZER.
hasbeen* phoney. Try BANSHEE, BEENAHS or SHEBEAN.
hatter one who makes hats, but also a verb: to vex, annoy: HATTERS, HATTERED, HATTERING.
hattrick* phoney: two words or hyphenated.
hellier this is a noun: a slater or tiler, not the comparative of an adjective HELLY*.
hillmen people living in the hills, but there is no HILLMAN*.
hokku a series of HAIKU. No HOKKUS*, though HAIKU now does take -S.
hong (obs.) to hang: HONGS, HONGING but no HONGED*.
hotter can be a verb, to tremble: hence HOTTERS, HOTTERED, HOTTERING.
humbler a noun, 'one who humbles', as well as the comparative of HUMBLE, hence HUMBLERS.
inflexed turned inwards. No verb INFLEX*.
ingrown this and INGROWING are OK, but there is no INGROWS* or INGREW*.
inhouse* phoney. Try HEINOUS.
inlier a rock information. Not the comparative of INLY, so do not infer an INLIEST*.
inlying lying within. No verb INLIE*.
jetlag OK but no JETLAGGED*.
jokol no JOKOLS*.
jollier a noun, 'a joker', as well as the comparative of JOLLY, hence JOLLIERS.
jun a monetary unit of South Korea. No JUNS*. But the variant CHON does give CHONS.
juster a noun, 'one who sells justs (jousts)', as well as the comparative of JUST, so JUSTERS is OK.
kart there is KARTING but no KARTED*.
keener can be a noun, 'one who keens (laments)', as well as the comparative of KEEN, hence KEENERS.
kiddier 'a huckster, a cadger', and not the comparative of an adjective KIDDY, though KIDDY is OK as a verb.
kuvasz a breed of sheepdog. The plural KUVASZOK.
kyne (Scots) cattle. Already plural: no KYNES*.
landwind there is no SEAWIND*.
leafmold there is no LEAFMOULD*.
lentigo a freckle or freckle-like condition: pl. LENTIGINES not LENTIGOS*.
lightwave relating to a wave of light. Adjective only: no LIGHTWAVES*.
likuta a monetary unit of Zaire. The pl. is MAKUTA not LIKUTAS*.
loathy no LOATHIER* (try AEROLITH) or LOATHIEST* (try HELIOSTAT).
longer a noun, 'one who longs', as well as the comparative of LONG, hence LONGERS.
losen (Spenser) to lose. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
loti a monetary unit of Lesotho: the pl. is MALOTI not LOTIS*.
lubfish a kind of dried fish. No LUB*.
luge gives LUGING or LUGEING, both of which take -S.
lusher this is a noun, 'an alcoholic', as well as the comparative of LUSH, so LUSHERS is OK.
madder a noun, a kind of dye, as well as the comparative of mad: hence MADDERS.
magyar of a garment, cut with the sleeves in a piece with the rest. No MAGYARS*.
malist not an adherent of MALISM, but an old Spenserian past of MALICE, to bear ill till. So no -S.
manful no WOMANFUL* (but there is WOMANFULLY).
maraging a process in metallurgy. No verb MARAGE*.
marver this is a noun or verb, not the comparative of an adjective MARVE* (you're thinking of MARVY). So no MARVEST*.
mega- don't assume all KILO compounds have a corresponding MEGA compound e.g. KILOBIT/MEGABIT, KILOBYTE/MEGABYTE, KILOBAR/MEGABAR, KILOBAUD but not MEGABAUD*.
melamed a teacher in a Jewish school: the pl. is MELAMDIM not MELAMEDS*.
metaplot nothing to do with modern novels, but the pl. of METAPELET, a woman acting as a foster-mother to children on a kibbutz. No METAPLOTS*.
mid has superlative MIDDEST, situated most nearly in the middle, but no MIDDER*.
millier a noun (a unit of measure), not the comparative of an adjective MILLY*.
minished past tense of MINISH, not 'a small shed'. So no MINISHEDS*!
misavised (Spenser) ill-advised. No verb MISAVISE*.
misbegot begotten by mistake. No verb MISBEGET*.
misbegotten begotten by mistake. No verb MISBEGET*.
misgotten unjustly gotten. No verb MISGET*.
mistreading a false step. No verb MISTREAD*.
most gives MOSTEST but not MOSTER*.
motey not MOTY*.
niellated inlaid in NIELLO. No verb NIELLATE*.
nightside OK, as is DAYSIDE, but despite 'Star Wars' there is no DARKSIDE*.
nodated knotted. No verb NODATE*.
nodulated having or characterized by nodular growths, esp. root nodules. No verb NODULATE*.
noncling an adjective meaning 'that does not cling'. There is no verb NONCLE*!
nontarget adjective only: no NONTARGETS*.
only has a superlative ONLIEST but no comparative ONLIER*.
opalised made smooth, like OPAL. No OPALISE*.
opalized made smooth, like OPAL. No OPALIZE*.
outcurve a type of pitch in baseball. Not a verb, so no OUTCURVED* or OUTCURVING*.
outedge an outer limit. Noun only, so no OUTEDGED* or OUTEDGING*.
outjet a projection. Not a verb, so no OUTJETTED* or OUTJETTING*.
outroop a noun meaning a kind of auction, not a verb, so no OUTROOPED* or OUTROOPING*.
outrope a noun meaning a kind of auction, not a verb, so no OUTROPED* or OUTROPING*.
outsaw this is the past of OUTSEE and not a verb in its own right meaning 'to exceed in sawing'. So no OUTSAWS*.
overflush noun or adjective, but not a verb, so no OVERFLUSHED* or OVERFLUSHING*.
overinked concealed by the use of ink. No verb OVERINK*.
ovist a believer in the doctrine that the ovum contains all future generations in germ. No OVISM*.
ower not 'someone who owes' but Scots for 'over', so no OWERS*.
paisano a fellow countryman: pl. PAISANOS not PAISANI* - despite the fact that the variant PAESANO can be either PAESANI or PAESANOS in the plural.
palmier this is a noun, 'a kind of pastry', as well as the comparative of PALMY, so PALMIERS is OK.
panto pl. is PANTOS not PANTOES* (try TEOPANS).
pearlised treated so as to give a pearl-like finish to. No PEARLISE*.
pearlized treated so as to give a pearl-like finish to. No PEARLIZE*.
pedal PEDALLING/PEDALLINGS but PEDALING and not PEDALINGS*.
-penny FIVEPENNY, EIGHTPENNY and TENPENNY are adjectival only; all other PENNY compounds can be pluralised.
percen (Spenser) to pierce. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
petlike* phoney. Try PIKELET.
pice an Indian coin, 1/4 anna. No PICES*.
piratize* phoney. Try TRAPEZII.
plumper a noun, 'one who plumps', as well as the comparative of PLUMP, so PLUMPERS is OK.
plumpie an adjective, plump, not a pie with plums in, so no PLUMPIES.
pompier 'uninspired, conventional', not the comparative of an adjective POMPY*.
potato pl. is POTATOES not POTATOS*.
preassembled assembled in advance. No verb PREASSEMBLE*.
precited cited in advance. No verb PRECITE*.
predial not a verb meaning to dial in advance, but an adjective or noun meaning connected with the land. So PREDIALS is OK, but no PREDIALLED* or PREDIALLING*.
prefilled filled in advance. No PREFILL*.
prefits* phoney. Try PRESIFT.
prehiring taking place before hiring. No verb PREHIRE*.
premade made in advance. No verb PREMAKE*.
preplant taking place before planting. Adjective only: no PREPLANTS*, PREPLANTING* or PREPLANTED*.
prereview taking place before a review. Adjective only: no PREREVIEWS*, PREREVIEWING* or PREREVIEWED*.
presplit taking place before a split. Adjective only: no PRESPLITS* or PRESPLITTING*.
prime does not compare: PRIMER is OK as a noun , but there is no PRIMEST*. Try IMPREST or PERMITS.
pulik this is a plural of PULI, a kind of dog (can also be PULIS): no PULIKS*.
pushings* phoney. Try GUNSHIPS.
putamen a fruit stone; pl. is PUTAMINA not PUTAMENS*.
quep an interjection: no QUEPS*.
quop to throb; not QUAP*.
radiale not RADIALES* - the plural is RADIALIA. Try SALARIED.
ranker a noun, 'a person who serves or has served as a private soldier', as well as the comparative of RANK, so RANKERS is OK.
rascally has superlative RASCALLIEST (from Shakespeare) but no comparative RASCALLIER*.
rather has superlative RATHEREST but no comparative RATHERER*.
reburned* phoney. Try BURDENER.
recenter not an American spelling of RECENTRE, but the comparative of RECENT, so don't try RECENTERS*.
redder can be a noun, 'one who redds (tidis up)', as well as the comparative of RED, hence REDDERS.
redeny OK, but no REDENIAL*.
reinput* phoney. Try REPUNIT.
remediat this is an adjective, so no REMEDIATS*. But it does take an -E.
remines* phoney. Try ERMINES.
renoted* phoney. Try ERODENT.
renotes* phoney. Try ESTRONE.
rereward not a verb meaning 'to reward again', but a noun meaning the rearguard of an army, so REREWARDS is OK, but no REREWARDED* or REREWARDING*.
resave* phoney. Try AVERSE or REAVES.
resaved* phoney. Try ADVERSE or EVADERS.
resaving* phoney. Try VINEGARS.
rescans* phoney. Try ANCRESS or CASERNS.
restable not an adjective, 'that can be rested' but a verb 'to stable again'. So RESTABLES etc.
retiary an adjective meaning 'fighting with a net'. No RETIARIES*. Someone who fights with a net is a RETIARIUS (pl. RETIARII).
retoned* phoney. Try ERODENT.
retones* phoney. Try ESTRONE.
revulsed affected with revulsion. There is no verb REVULSE*.
rew though Chambers clearly implies that this is a verb, an old form of to rue, there is no REWING*. There is REWED, but only with the meaning 'to wed again'.
righter this is a noun, 'one who rights', as well as the comparative of RIGHT, so RIGHTERS is OK.
riley not RILY*.
riotise noun only: no RIOTISING* or RIOTISED*.
riotize noun only: no RIOTIZING* or RIOTIZED*.
rippier a seller of fish, and not the comparative of an adjective RIPPY*.
roborating restoring health or vigour. No verb ROBORATE*.
rockier this is a noun, a kind of dove, as well as the comparative of ROCKY, so ROCKIERS is OK.
ronne (Spenser) to run. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
rosier this is a noun, a rose-bush, as well as the comparative of ROSY, so ROSIERS is OK.
rougher can be a noun, 'one who roughs': hence ROUGHERS.
royal ROYALLER, ROYALLEST - not ROYALER*, ROYALEST*. This is despite the fact that one can have LOYALER or LOYALLER, LOYALEST or LOYALLEST. Don't you just love the English language?
rype a ptarmigan: the pl. is RYPER, not RYPES*.
saltier this is a noun, a kind of cross, as well as the comparative of SALTY, so SALTIERS is OK.
saucier the comparative of SAUCY, but it now also means 'a chef who specialises in sauces' so can take an -S.
score be careful with the multiples: there is THREESCORE, FOURSCORE, SIXSCORE, EIGHTSCORE and NINESCORE but no TWOSCORE*, FIVESCORE* or SEVENSCORE*.
scroddled made of clay scraps of different colours. No SCRODDLE*.
sealion* phoney. Try ANISOLE.
seecatch a fur seal: the pl. is SEECATCHIE not SEECATCHES*.
semidarkness a state between dark and light. No SEMIDARK*.
semitic* phoney. Try MISCITE.
sheatfish there is no SHEAT*.
sheetfed no SHEETFEED*.
shier this is a noun, 'a horse that shies', as well as the comparative of SHY, so SHIERS is OK.
siliconised of glassware, coated with silicon. No SILICONISE*.
siliconized of glassware, coated with silicon. No SILICONIZE*.
skiwear post CSW15, this is now the only noun ending in -WEAR that does not take -S: no SKIWEARS*.
snowsurfing no SNOWSURF*.
sokaiya in Japan, a corporate racketeer. No SOKAIYAS*.
sooner this is a noun, one who settles on government land before it is officially opened for settlement, as well as the comparative of SOON, so SOONERS is OK.
sparsedly sparsely. No SPARSED*.
spirated voiceless. No SPIRATE*.
spoffy no SPOFFIER* or SPOFFIEST*.
spoonfed no SPOONFEED*.
spurry this can be a noun, meaning a kind of plant, or an adjective meaning spur-like. The adjective does not compare, so no SPURRIEST*, but just to confuse you there is a noun SPURRIER, meaning one who make spurs.
stepdancing doing a step dance. No STEPDANCE*.
stimie gives STIMYING not STIMIEING* (though STYMIE gives STYMIEING).
storiated decorated with elaborate ornamental designs. No STORIATE*.
suspence (Milton) suspended, held back. Adjective only: no SUSPENCES*.
swinging as an adjective, has superlative SWINGINGEST but no comparative SWINGINGER*.
swiss a cotton fabric. There is a noun SWISSING, meaning a kind of treatment of cloth, but no SWISSED*.
tablier this is a noun, not the comparative of an adjective TABLY*.
tadvance (Spenser) to advance. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
taffetized having a crisp finish. No verb TAFFETIZE*, and no TAFFETISE*.
tanalised of timber, treated with Tanalith, a proprietary preservative. No TANALISE*.
tanalized of timber, treated with Tanalith, a proprietary preservative. No TANALIZE*.
tangentally in the direction of a tangent, tangentially. N.B. there is no adjective TANGENTAL*, only TANGENTIAL, but Chambers specifically gives both TANGENTALLY and TANGENTIALLY as the adverb.
tarrier a noun, 'one who tarries', as well as the comparative of TARRY, hence TARRIERS.
tasswage (Spenser) to assuage. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
teaset* phoney. Try ESTATE or TESTAE.
teasets* phoney. Try ESTATES.
tegulated composed of plates overlapping like tiles. No TEGULATE*.
temene this is the pl. of TEMENOS, a sacred precinct. No -S.
titmose Spenserian for TITMOUSE: the plural is TITMICE not TITMOSES*.
tomato plural is TOMATOES not TOMATOS*.
tomfool there is TOMFOOLISHNESS but no TOMFOOLISH*.
tossen (Spenser) to toss. Infinitive only: no verb forms.
townfolk no TOWNFOLKS*. But the alternative TOWNSFOLK does give TOWNSFOLKS.
trendsetting There is no verb TRENDSET*.
ugli* phoney: the fruit still has a capital.
umbrated no UMBRATE*.
uncling not a verb meaning 'not to cling', but the participle of a verb UNCLE, to address as uncle.
uncoating this is OK and so is UNCOATED but there is no verb UNCOAT*.
undate an adjective meaning wavy, not a verb, so no UNDATES*. But UNDATED is OK, meaning not dated.
underlit lit from below. No UNDERLIGHT*.
ungravely (Shakesp.) not gravelly. There is no UNGRAVE*.
unkid a Scots adjective meaning 'strange', not a verb meaning to deprive of kids!
unpeeled not peeled. No verb UNPEEL*.
unrip pt. is UNRIPPED only, though the past tense of RIP can be RIPPED or RIPT.
untaped* phoney. Try UNADEPT.
untapes* phoney. Try PEANUTS or PESAUNT.
unticked* phoney. Try TUNICKED.
untrain* phoney. Try URINANT.
unwive to deprive of a wife - not UNWIFE*. But UNWIFELY is OK.
upflashing flashing up. No verb UPFLASH*.
upstretched no verb UPSTRETCH*.
uptitling the practise of conferring grandiose titles on employees doing relatively menial jobs. No verb UPTITLE*.
vagrom vagrant. Adjective only: no VAGROMS*.
vizier at least one person is reported to have thought that this noun (a Muslim minister) was the comparative of an adjective VIZY, and assumed the existence of a VIZIEST*. VIZY is OK, but is a noun or verb.
void this does not compare: there is a noun VOIDER (one who voids) but no VOIDEST* (try DOVIEST).
vraicking the act of gathering VRAIC, a kind of seaweed, as performed by a VRAICKER. But don't try VRAICKED*.
wanty this is a noun: no WANTIER* or WANTIEST*.
wasserman a man-shaped sea-monster. No WASSER*, and the plural is WASSERMEN not WASSERMANS*.
webfed no WEBFEED*.
wheenge gives WHEENGING not WHEENGEING* (although PEENGE gives PEENGING or PEENGEING).
winebar* phoney. Try WEBINAR.
writhled shrivelled. No WRITHLE*.
wrizled wrinkled. No WRIZLE*.
yesty no YESTIER* or YESTIEST*.
ygo ygoe these are past tenses - no YGOS* or YGOES*.
yokul no YOKULS*.
yom a day: the pl. is YOMIM not YOMS*.
yoyo* Phoney. The word is hyphenated.
zapata denoting a kind of flowing, drooping moustache. Adjective only: no ZAPATAS*.
ziptop adjective 'having the top opening fastened with a zipper'. No ZIPTOPS*.
zite a type of pasta like large macaroni. No ZITES*.
zonate adj. only, with variant ZONATED, but no ZONATES*.